Creel



E. K. BAUER CREEL 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 16, 1946 MM 7% f K T m M E W. B

mm m WV mm 4 mm April 1951 E. K. BAUER 2,547,072

CREEL Filed July 16, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ERNEST K. BA UER BY //6 2a Patented Apr. 3, 1951 UNITED STATES OFFICE 2,547,072 CREEL Ernest K. Bauer, Meadville, Pa, assignor to American Viscose Corporation, Wilmington, D'el., a corporation of Delaware Application July is, 1946, Serial No. 683,909

14 Claims.

This invention relates to creels and is particularly concerned with an improved construction of creel and parts thereof for the purpose of controlling the tension.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of creel in which the supply packages are mounted on frames which are movable relative to fixed guides to vary the size of balloon between the packages and corresponding guides and also rotatably mounted to permit the rapid shift of empty packages on one side of the frame out of operative relationship with the guides while simultaneously shifting full packages carried on another side of the frame into operative relationship with the guides.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of creel tension device. Another object is to provide for the automatic control of the tension device in response to speed variations of the yarns proceeding through and from the creel. will be apparent from the drawing and description thereof hereinafter. I

In the drawing, illustrative of the invention,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of aprefe'rredembodiment'of the invention;

Figure 2 is a" perspective view of a portion of the creel'of Figure '1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section through the tension device ofthe present invention; and

Figure 4 is. an elevation of a modified form of yarn package supply frame.

As shown generally in Figure 1,. the creel 2 supplies yarns to a processing device, such as a slasher, not shown, or to a warping machine 3' in which it passes over a delivery roll-4 to the take-up beam 5. The beam may be driven by a motor 8 (which in the embodiment shown operates at substantially constant speed) throng-h areduction gearing which may be automatically controlled in'any conventional fashion to draw the yarns to the beam at a constant linear speed by means not herein shown and not specifi cally par t'of the-presentinvention; Manual coii trols: may beprovided' to: drive the" beam at a slow or inching. speed and at one or more higher speeds.

thereto. are suspendedby carriages l3 on transverse rails ll" extending between the angle bars Other objects and advantages disposed in an upright member (see Figure 3' 2 3 and 9. A rack i5 is secured to each rail I l and each rack is engaged by a pinion l6 fixed on shaft ll extending the length of the creel and rotatably supported in the carriages l3. The shaft IT with the pinions It may be rotated by a chain l8 engaging a sprocket pulley l9 secured to the shaft I! at one end of the creel.

Each carriage is provided with the grooved rollers or wheels 20' which ride on top of the corresponding rails M. The carriage l3 comprises two side plate 2i secured to and depending from the strips 22' between which the wheels 20 are rotatably mounted. Two transverse members 23: are secured between the plates 2 I, and each has a bore which serves as a guideway for the round shaft 24 projecting upwardly from the frame H. The lower member 23 has a groove 25 and a transverse pin' 26 through shaft 24 is shown resting in the groove; A roller 21 rotatably secured to the foot of the frame l'l operates in a guide-" way provided by the channel 28. The pin 26 and groove 25 co-operate'to line up the supply packages endwise with respect to guides 29'whioh are particularly). Tension devices 3| (se'eFigure 3') are disposed laterally of the guides 2'9 away from the packages l2; The specific form of device'shown comprises two spaced stationary upright rods 32 and 33 and a movable rod 34. The rod 34 is secured to a pivot rod'35 by a plurality of spacedbrackets 36 of arcuate form so that red 34 may be swung into the dotted line position shown in Figure 3 for threading up and rod 32 will. not interfere with such movement". As shown in Figures, the stationary rods 32 and 33' preferably have one edge thereof substantially in alignment with the axis or center line of the yarn passages through the guid'esZB in Order to facilitate lacing.

the rods 32, 33'and 34 b'y v'aryingthe distance be- 4'5 tween rod'sf32" and 3 3 on the on'el'handand rod 34 A pinion 31 is secured" tojthe' upper end of pivot rod and engagesfr'a'ck teeth,3'8'on' a reciprocable rod 39; Reciprocation of rod 39 ad lusts the tension of the yarns r'oceedingab'out on the other hand thereby increasing or'decreas v ing the angular contact of the'yarn oni rods "32,; 3'3a'nd 34. A spring 40. is secured to theframe of the creel at 4i and to the rod 39 near the back end-of the creel. This spring-normall urges the rod 39to theback of 'thecreel and if allowed exclusive actionmo'ves'rods3 4 into; the position shown in" solid lines'in Figure 3 for producing Near the front of the creel an upright rotatable shaft 42 has fixed thereon an upper gear 43 in mesh with rack teeth at the front end of rod 39. A lower gear 44 is secured to shaft 42 and meshes with a rack t? which extends through a hand adjusting lever d6 adapted to be adjustably positioned by engaging the detent 4'! with a preselected notch 48 in the sector element 59. A pin 59 extending transversely of the rack 4'5 limits the movement of the tension system in the direction urged by the spring 40, as determined by the setting of the lever it.

Rack 55 is connected to a bell crank arm pivotally mounted at 52 on a bracket 53 through a one-way coupling formed of a dashpot comprising a cylinder 54 and a plunger 55 therein. The cylinder is slidably mounted in any suitable guideway such as the bearing 55. The plunger is connected to the rack and the cylinder to a link 51 pivotally connected 58. One end of link 51 isadapted to be pivotally attached to the arm of lever 5| at any one of a group of bores 59 to provide additional adjustment for purposes more fully explained hereinbelow. A vent 5B in cylinder 5 3 allows movement by the cylinder toward the left or the back of the creel without simultaneous movement of plunger 55.

The other end of hell crank lever 5! has a yoke 6| which is in engagement with an annular groove in a sleeve 62 slidably mounted on a governor the shaft to which bevel gear 65 is secured. Pre

erably, as shown, sprocket 65 is driven by a chain 5'! and a sprocket 58 secured to the constant speed shaft of motor 5 which serves as the input to the variable speed device 1.

During operation of the machine, the swinging of bell crank lever 65 in response to the speed of the warp, adjusts the tension devices 3% automatically through the shift of rack d5, rods 39 and rods 34. The operator before starting the machine sets the hand lever to give a predetermined maximum tension to be effective during slow speed operation of the machine and he secures link 5'! to a preselected bore 59 depending upon the denier or size of the yarn, the greater the denier or size, the closer the attachment of link El to the pivot 52 of lever 5B. This latter adjustment serves thus to vary the range of tension variation between slow and high speeds of operation. During threading up, of course, the lever 46 is swung clockwise as viewed in Figure 1 to an extreme position to place the rods 34 in the dotted line position of Figure 3. H

As shown in Figure 2 particularly, the frames l I are simultaneously adjustable (by means of the hand chain 18 near the front of the creel) toward and away from the guides 29 to provide for a control of ballooning which depends on the nature, especially the size, of the yarn. As shown in Figure 2, the frames H are provided with holders, such as pegs, on opposite faces thereof so that during the unwinding of yarns from the set of packages 12 aligned with the guides 29, full packages may be mounted on the opposite pegs, so that when the unwinding of one such set of packages is completed, the new set may be swung that of Figure 1) a modified frame i la comprising three upright bars or posts lib connected by cross bars H0. The package holders or pegs 5 Id project from opposite sides of the uprights lib and may be staggered as shown. Foot roller 21,

guideway 28, shaft 24, transverse pin 23 and the carriage is are the same as in Figures 1 and 2.

While the drawing shows a single creel unit 2 delivering yarns along one side thereof to the warping machine or thelike, two such units may be arranged laterally spaced of each other so that the yarns from both proceed in an aisle therebetween or, instead, if desired, so that the yarns proceed along the outer sides of the two-unit assembly leaving an aisle between the units for the operators to replenish empt packages with full ones. When two or more units are to be used together, the chain pulleys it may becoupledtogether, and the racks 39 may be operated from a single rack l5 by suitably coupling them together.

While the creel in Figure 1 has only four frames I I, an number of such frames may be provided as desired.

The creel of the present invention is readily adaptable to eificient handling of all types and sizes of yarns. A single operation serves to adjust all of the frames H simultaneously to control ballooning. A single operation serves to preset the maximum tension for slow speed operation or to set the tension device in threading position, and a single operation adjusts the range of variation in tension during speed changes.

The tension device itself is extremely simple and efficient, readily laced, and reliable. It. comprises. relatively few parts most of which operate simultaneously upon a group of threads. Thus, rods 32, 33 and a l all operate upon the entire group of threads proceeding from a frame H (or from one upright lib in Figure i) while only guides 29 operate separately on individual threads. This reduces the number of parts and reduces maintenance costs. It simplifies also the operating connections when automatic tension control responsive to speed of warp is desired.

It is to be understood that changes and .variations may be made without departing-from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A creel comprising a frame, a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side'iof the frame, a plurality of carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides; a tension device common to the group of yarns proceeding from each row of guides and spaced laterally from said guides in a direction generally away from the carriers, each tension device comprising a plurality of rods substantially parallel to the row of guides, two of the rods being disposed in a fixed location, another of the rods being movable in a direction normal to its length in a plane offset from and extending between the first mentioned two rods; and means for simultaneously moving the movable rods to adjust said plurality of tension devices.

2. A creel comprising a frame, a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side of the frame, a plurality of carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides; a tension device common to the group of yarn proceeding from each row of guides and spaced laterally from said guides in a direction generally away from the carriers, each tension device comprising a plurality of rods substantially parallel to the row of guides, two of the rods being disposed in a fixed location, another of the rods being movable in a direction normal to its length in a plane offset from and extending between the first mentioned two rods; a rack bar extending the length of the creel, spring means urging said rack bar longitudinally in one direction, pivotal means for supporting the movable rod of each tension device on a pivotal axis oiTset from the rod, pinions in engagement with said rack bar for swinging the movable rods about the pivotal means, and means for moving the rack bar longitudinally in opposition to said spring means.

3. In combination, a creel comprising a frame, a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side of the frame, a plurality,

of carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides; a tension device common to the group of yarns proceeding from each row of guides and spaced laterally from said guides in a direc tion generally away from the carriers, each tension device comprising a plurality of rods substantially parallel to the row of guides, two of the rods being disposed in a fixed location, another of the rods being movable in a direction normal to its length in a plane offset from and extending between the first mentioned two rods; a rack bar extending the length of the creel, spring means urging said rack-bar longitudinally in one direction, pivotal means for supporting the movable rod of each tension device on a pivotal axis offset from the rod, pinions'in engagement with said rack bar for swinging the movable rods about the pivotal means, means for moving the rack bar longitudinally in opposition to said spring means, means for drawing the yarns as a warp sheet from the creel, automatic means for varying the tension in response to speed variations in said drawing means, and means for adjusting the automatic varying means to alter the range of tension variation in response to a given speed variation.

4. A creel comprising a frame, a plurality of vertical rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side of the frame, a plurality of vertically extending carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides, overhead rails extending transversely of the creel in the general direction of the axes of the yarn packages through the guides, said carriers being suspended on said rails, a shaft carried by the carriers rotatably thereon and extending longitudinally of the creel, means on the shaft for adjusting the distance of the carriers from the respective rows of yarn guides, a plurality of guideways extending transversely of the creel beneath the carriers for controlling the movement thereof, a plurality of tension devices spaced laterally from the rows of guides, each tension device serving a row of the guides and comprising a plurality of vertical rods, one of said rods being disposed in a fixed location and one of the rods being movable in a direction normal to its length in a plane offset from each other rod, and means for simultaneously adjusting said plurality of tension devices.

5. A tension system for creels and the like come prising means for supporting a plurality of rows of yarn packages at intervals along one side of a creel, a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced from the supporting means at intervals corresponding to the spacing of the rows of packages, a tension device common to each row of guides comprising a plurality of rods substantially parallel to the row of guides but spaced laterally there from in a direction generally away from the supporting means for corresponding rows of packages, two of the rods being disposed in fixed locations, another of the rods being movable in a direction normal to its length in a plane offset from and extending between the first-mentioned two rods.

6. A tension system for creels and the like comprising means for supporting a plurality of rows of yarn packages at intervals along one side of a creel, a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced from the supporting means at intervals corresponding to the spacing of the rows of packages, a tension device common to each row of guides comprising a plurality of rods substantially parallel to the row of guides but spaced laterally therefrom in a direction generally away from the supporting means for corresponding rows of packages, two of the rods being disposed in fixed locations, pivot means having a pivotal axis parallel to the two rods, bracket means mounted in the pivot means, and a third rod carried by the bracket means for movement on the pivotal axis in an arcuate plane extending between the first two rods.

7. A creel comprising a frame, a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side of the frame, a plurality of carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides, means for simultaneously moving the carriers toward and away from the respective guides, tension means comprising for each row of guides a plurality of rods common to such row spaced laterally from such row of guides in a direction away from the corresponding carriers, and means for simultaneously adjusting the tension means.

8. In combination, a creel comprising a frame, a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side of the frame from the a front to the rear end thereof, a plurality of rows of carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides and spaced at intervals along one side of the frame corresponding to the spacing of the rows of yarn guides, tension means spaced laterally from the guides in a direction away from the carriers, means for simultaneously adjusting the tension means, means for drawing the yarns as a warp sheet from the creel, and automatic means for varying the tension in response to speed variations in said drawing means.

9. In combination, a creel comprising a frame,

a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side of the frame from the front to the rear end thereof, a plurality of rows of carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides and spaced at intervals along one side of the frame corresponding to the spacing of the rows of yarn guides, the carriers being adjustably mounted on the frame to permit initial adjustment of the distance'between the carriers and their corresponding guides to set the creel for a predetermined tension for slow speed travel of the yarns, tension means spaced laterally from the guides in a direction away from the carriers, means for simultaneously adjusting the tension means, means for drawing the yarns as a warp sheet from the creel, and automatic means for varying the tension in response to speed variation in said drawing means.

10. A creel comprising a frame, a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side of the frame from the front to the rear end thereof, a plurality of rows of carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides and spaced at intervals along one side of the frame corre sponding to the spacing'of the rows of yarn guides; a tension device common to the group of yarns proceeding from each row of guides and spaced laterally from said guides in a direction generally away from the corresponding row of carriers, each tension device comprising a plurality of rods substantially parallel to the row of guides, one of the rods being disposed in a fixed location, and one of the rods being movable in a direction normal to its length in a plane offset from each other rod; and means for simultaneously moving the movable rods to adjust said plurality of tension devices.

11. A creel comprising a frame, a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side of the frame, a plurality of carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides, tension means comprising for each row of guides a plurality of rods common to such row spaced laterally from such row of guides in a direction away from the corresponding carriers, and means for simultaneously adjusting the tension means.

12. A creel comprising a frame, a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side of the frame, a plurality of carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides, tension means comprising for each row of guides a plurality of rods common to such row spaced laterally from such row of guides in a direction away from the corresponding carriers, said plurality of rods common to a row comprising at least one fixed rod and another rod movable in a direction normal to its length in a plane oifset from each other rod of the group, and means for simultaneously adjusting the tension means.

- 13. A creel comprising a frame, a plurality of rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side of the frame, a plurality of carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides, tension means comprising for each row of guides a plurality of rods common to and. extending parallel to such row spaced laterally from such row of guides in a direction away from the corresponding carriers, said plurality of rods common to a row comprising at least one fixed rod and another rod movable in a direction normal to its length in a plane offset from each other rod of the group, and means for simultaneously adjusting the tension means.

14. A creel comprising a frame, a plurality of vertical rows of yarn guides spaced at intervals along one side of the frame, a plurality of carriers for yarn packages spaced from the guides, tension means comprising a plurality of groups of vertical rods spaced laterally from the guides in a direction away from the carriers, each group of rods comprising at least one fixed rod and another rod movable in a direction normal to its length in a plane offset from each other rod of the group, and means for simultaneously adjusting the movable rods of the tension means.

ERNEST K. BAUER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 220,199 Watts Sept. 30, 1,879 872,258 Schmidt Nov. 26, 1907 1,670,726 Kershaw May 22, 1928 1,797,391 Abbott Mar. 24, 1931 1,894,712 Schweiter Jan. 17, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 22,908 Switzerland Nov. 16, 1900 330,614 Great Britain June 10, 1930 

